Stuffed Peppers - Easy Freezable Dinner Meal Recipe

Start with Bell peppers – I find six big peppers are the right amount for my recipe. I prefer a mix of red, yellow, and orange peppers, If you prefer green, this recipe works for that too. I like the sweet flavor of red, yellow, and orange. Sometimes green peppers have a little bitterness to them.

Rinse the peppers. Cut off the tops and rinse out the seeds and cut our the membrane so you have a little pepper bowl now.

Place the peppers face down on a plate and microwave on high for about 5 minutes. This softens them up and decreases the cooking time once you've stuffed the peppers.

While your peppers are in the microwave, brown your meat/onions – You can use 1 lb of ground beef or ground turkey.

I used half of a white onion chopped in small pieces, but you could also use other onions.

Brown the meat with the onions. Season to taste- I like to add a little garlic and Worcestershire sauce.

While the peppers and meat are cooking, you'll also want to prepare 1 cup of uncooked rice, added to 1 1/4 cups of water or chicken stock, and then cook the rice in a steamer. You can also cook the rice on your stovetop or in an instant pot. I have a really great post that details, How To Clean Your Instant Pot.

You can use your favorite rice for this recipe or even substitute quinoa or couscous to add a different texture and flavor. I like to use Jasmine rice.

While the above are all in the works chop your veggies. I like to add carrots and celery to my stuffed peppers.

Chop the veggies into tiny pieces. You can also chop them up in the food processor.

Put them in a pot or pan with a little olive oil and some seasoning. I use lemon/lime juice, salt, and various Pensey’s spices from my cabinet. Sautee until a little bit soft. You don’t want them mushy, but you don’t want them super crunchy.

You could add corn and black beans to this recipe to give it more depth and flavor combinations.

After the meat, rice and veggies are ready, mix them with the cheese and tomato sauce in a large bowl. Taste, and add more seasoning if needed.

Then Stuff the peppers with the mixture. Place in a baking dish sprayed with Olive Oil or nonstick cooking spray. Top each pepper with a bit of shredded cheese. Then place in oven at 350 until done- around 3-45 minutes.

You know it will be done with the tops beginning to brown and the pepper folding in a little on top.